20 Great benefits of nettle leaf for health, skin and hair

Nettle leaves – otherwise known as stinging nettles – are those plants we were all (quite rightly) scared of as kids. Once a nettle leaf stung you, you certainly knew about it! A burning rash would develop that wouldn’t soothe for hours. Ouch, right?

Fast forward to 2018, and your best friend who’s into veganism, holistic healing and health and fitness is telling you to start using nettle leaves for your health, skin and hair!

Is she crazy? Does she want you to get hurt? Is this some sort of cruel practical joke?

… Or is she onto something?

As it turns out, she’s totally onto something. In this article, Beauty and Tips takes a look at the top 20 benefits of stinging nettles for health, skin and hair. But before we dive right into things, we have to warn you not to go ahead and grab the plant by your hands – you might be an adult now, but these babies still sting!

But first …

Why are Nettle Leaves So Beneficial?

We get it – you’re still sceptical.

Perhaps you still recall that time you fell into a whole bunch of nettle leaves when you were 12 and they stung your legs, arms and face.

And now you can’t imagine any way that those bullies could now help you.

But they can, and here is why:

Nettle leaf contains lots of vitamin B
Nettle leaf is rich in all kinds of minerals and nutrients, from sulphur and sodium, to magnesium, calcium and iron
Nettle leaf is a good source of protein
Nettle leaf is low in calories
Now that you know why we’re raving about them so much, let’s dive into their top 20 benefits:

Nettle leaf can treat acne

It’s always the case – someone who we perceive to be the bully makes a return later in life to destroy the actual bully.

In other words, now that you’re older and wiser, you can team up with nettle leaves (your former nemesis) to defeat the real bully – acne.

Acne is a pain in the butt. It can take over our skin and wreak havoc with our self-esteem.

And why does it have to appear at times when we really could do without it?

Fortunately, there are ways to eliminate acne, and nettle leaf is one of them.

All you need to do is apply dried nettle leaf extracts to any affected area and let it work its magic.

And the best thing? It doesn’t leave any nasty scarring behind, yay.

Nettle leaf can treat eczema

Like acne, eczema is a nasty skin condition that leaves a stain on our skin. It looks unsightly and it does nothing for our confidence.

Because eczema thrives on anxiety, worry, stress and depression, it often emerges when we’re struggling in life. Not cool!

As well as reducing your anxiety and stress levels to prevent eczema from forming or getting out of control, you can drink nettle leaf tea to keep it at bay and eliminate it altogether.

The trick is to drink at least 2 cups per day for best results. This will flush pesky toxins from out of your body.

It’s also worth dabbing nettle leaf extract topically over any affected areas for more results.

Nettle Leaf can treat dandruff

Although it’s hardly the end of the world, dandruff is still a nightmare that’s hard to live with. When we’re out and about, the last thing we want is for someone to say to us “has it been snowing?”

It isn’t nice and it can really affect our self esteem. And the thing is that dandruff can be SO hard to eliminate. Even when you think you’ve got rid of it, one brisk shake of the head is enough to confirm that you were wrong. The shampoos that are supposed to be “anti-dandruff” often don’t work.

Nettle leaf can save the day the natural way! It’s true – all you need to do is mix a few pinches of mustard oil with some dried nettle leaves before leaving overnight .

By the time the morning swings around, you’ve got yourself a super effective remedy for dandruff.

It’s also a good idea to crush some fresh nettle leaves, extract their juice and massage it onto your scalp.

Nettle leaf can prevent the flu

Let’s face it – the flu is pretty darn horrible! It can put us out of action for at least a week, and it can leave us feel really miserable.

The good news is that there are preventative measures you can put in place to reduce your risk of catching the flu, or even the common cold.

If you seem to catch every cold that goes around, try adding a bunch of nettle leaves to boiled water, before drinking once it’s cold. Granted, this isn’t the tastiest thing you’ll ever drink but it’s gosh darn effective at boosting your immune system so that you get sick less often.

And that’s what it’s all about, right?!

Nettle leaf can prevent hair loss

Nettle leaves had you tearing your hair out when you were a kid who got stung – but now they can help you hold onto your hair!

In fact, people have been using nettle leaves for thousands of years to stop hair loss.

See, hair loss is nothing new. Hair is associated with beauty, and few people actually want to lose their hair. It’s a terrible thing to happen to a person, especially young people!

Fortunately, there are natural ways you can hold onto your precious mane.

Nettle tea and stinging nettle capsules can help by treating the loss of hair internally.

Also, you can massage nettle oil combats into your scalp for more effective results.

Don’t worry, it won’t sting you!

Nettle leaf can help to build blood

We admit this sounds weird – how on earth is blood “built”?

But it’s true – blood IS built, and you need to take care of your diet if you want to optimise the blood building process.

Nettle leaves can help because they’re rich in iron.

This is the prime reason they’re used to treat anemia.

Moreover, nettle leaves also help to purify your blood. And when your blood is purified, you begin to less tired and more energetic.

Consume more nettle soup and look after your blood from now on.

Nettle leaf can make hair grow back

If you’ve already lost a fair chunk of your hair and really want it back, you probably think that’s impossible, right?

“Well, yeah, I can’t turn back time! I’m not Wonder Woman!”

That’s cool – but you don’t have to turn back time to get your hair back.

See, the amazing thing about nettle leaves is that they stimulate hair re-growth. All that hair you lost? It effectively comes back.

How does this work? It’s because nettle leaves are rich in sulphur and silica. All you need to do is rinse your hair with water and nettle extracts and you should have more hair – and shine and colour – in no time at all.

Nettle leaf can help with “woman problems”

This is going to sound really weird, but women are advised to consume nettle leaves more often because they can actually help with women’s problems.

That’s right! Nettle leaves can come to the rescue if you normally have heavy or generally painful or stressful periods.

And we all know what those are like!

Indeed, what a lot of men don’t get is that PMS is hard. And wouldn’t it be just super if there was something that made the whole thing so much easier?

Although it sounds like an odd thing to do right now, if you do suffer from especially awful periods, start consuming nettle tea regularly.

Nettle leaf can help with “Men Problems”, too

Although we’re not going to get into all the specifics of men problems here (this is not the place or time!), but let’s just say this: When a man is suffering with low levels of testosterone in his system, it can be, shall we say, problematic.

Guys need more testosterone in their system to feel like a man, and to be properly enjoy himself at certain times!

There are lots of ways a man can boost his levels of testosterone, and consuming more nettle leaves via tea is one way.

If you are a man who is struggling with low testosterone levels, or if you’re with a man who has this problem, add more nettle tea to your diet and see what happens. It should boost your libido.

Nettle leaf can reduce allergies

There are so many things that we all love about the summertime, from the glorious sunshine, to the warmth, to the smell of freshly cut grass, to the wonderfully colourful flowers that are in full bloom.

For those who suffer from allergies, however, summer can also be a bit of a nightmare.

While stinging nettles were a total pain when you were kid, now that you’re older and wiser you can work alongside them to reduce your allergies.

One allergy that stinging nettles are known to be able to treat is food sensitivity.

Stinging nettles can also reduce the effects of rhinitis, and because they contain anti-histamine agents, they can also combat histamine present in your system.

Anyone living with arthritis will tell you that it’s not nice at all. Arthritis targets the joints and can cause an insane amount of pain during a flare up. It really affects the quality of a persons life, and can prevent them from doing the things they normally enjoy doing.

If you or someone you know suffer from arthritis, it’s well worth knowing that stinging nettles can help to soothe the pain.

All you need to do is take some extracted nettle juice and massage it on any affected joints.

Nettle leaves can also be used to treat tendonitis, bursitis, gout, and rheumatism.

Stinging nettles? They should be called soothing nettles from now on!

Nettle Leaf Can Protect From DNA Damage

DNA damage sounds pretty bad, but how bad is it exactly?

Pretty bad!

DNA damage has both short term and long term consequences. In the short term, it can slow your metabolism down, but in the long term it can cause cell death that leads to premature ageing.

And as we can all testify, premature ageing is NOT cool!

The good news is that there are ways to prevent DNA damage, and one of these is to consume a better diet. While junk food floods your body with toxins that want to damage your cells, healthy food floods your body with vital nutrients that seek to combat DNA damage.

Nettle leaf tea is rich in powerful antioxidants that seek to eliminate nasty toxins that are on the lookout to see what DNA they can damage next!

Nettle leaf slow down the ageing process

As outlined above, nettle leaves can help to prevent DNA damage, and this itself slows down the ageing process.

Nettle leaves also boost circulation, which also slows down the ageing process. If you have poor circulation, one thing that you might notice is that you age faster!

Nettle leaf soothe aching muscles

If you work out, you’ll know a thing or two about aching muscles!

While a good workout session has its obvious benefits, it taxes our muscles to the point where they really kinda hurt.

If you’re a gym bunny who is looking for a way to treat your throbbing muscles post-workout, the best thing you can do is massage any affected areas with some nettle leaf juice extract. This stuff has some wonderful powers of rejuvenation that act on your muscles, ensuring that any strains or aches are soon healed. Nice!